Railway draft appliance



H. C. BUHOUP.

RAILWAY DRAFT APPLIANCE.

APPLlCATlON FILED JUNE 9,1919.

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Q a 7k g 8 1 I I 10 A 3] n uentoz H. C. BUHOUP.

RAILWAY DRAFT APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED mm: 9, 1919.

1,339,029, Patented May 4,1920

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5] u uc nfoz Witness 6M w M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY G BUHOUP, OIE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVAN RAILWAY DRAFT APFLIANCE.

To all who/n it may concern Be it known that I I'IARRY C. BUHoUr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Draft Appliances; and I do hereby declare the fol.- lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention. such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Fly invention relates to draft rigging for railway cars and particularly to means for etliciently connecting the coupler and yoke in a manner permitting them to be readily assembled and detached with a minimum expenditure of labor. Generally stated this object is effected by providing one of the connected draft members with shoulders which are respectively adapted to engage separable shoulders 011 the other draft memher, one of said separable shoulders being adapted to be moved toward and from its companion shoulder by means of a lever rotatably mounted on one of said draft members, and said lever being adapted normally to assume under the influence of gravity :1 position corresponding to the operative or interlocked position of the said shoulders.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred form in which I contemplate applying the principle of my invention the scope whereof is pointed out in the claims,

Figure 1 a plan view of a draft rigging embodying the invention, the forward portion of the car coupler and the well known follower plates and springs or other cushioning devices that are mounted. in the draft yoke being omitted.

Fig. 2 is a detail view showing the draft yoke in end elevation and the coupler in transverse section, the devices being illustrated in their attached relation.

Fig. 3 is a detail view, partly in longitudinal section and partly in side elevation, of the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the parts being in interlocked relation.

Fig. 4 is a detail view corresponding to Fig. 2 showing the upper portion of the mechanism the parts being in a relation permitting the coupler and yoke to be disconnected.

Fig. 5 is a detail view corresponding to Fig. 3 showing the upper portion of the Specification of Letters Patent.

ASSIGNOR TO THE MGCONWAY & TORLEY IA. CORPORATION OF IENNSYLVANIA.

Patented May 4, 1920.

Application filed June 9, 1919. Serial No. 302,810.

illustrated in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a detail plan view of the forward end of the draft yoke.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 77, Fig.

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the movable block or member forming one of the locking shoulders of the draft yoke.

Fig. 9 is a detail plan view of the forward end of the draft yoke, showing the position of the movable locking block pern'iitting the rotatable lifting lever to be inserted before bending its outer end as shown inFigs. 1 to Fig. 10 is a detail sectional view of the parts illustrated in Fig. 9, showing the mode of assembly.

Fig. 11 is a front elevation of a modified form of locking block which may be moved to unlocked position by rotating the lifter lever in either direction from its normal position. A

F ig. 12 is a detail view corresponding to Fig. 10. but illustrating a modified form of lifter lever for the locking block.

mechanism. the parts being in the relation Fig. 13 is a, detail view of the handle end of the modified form of lifter lever shown in Fig. 12.

In the drawings, 1 indicates a coupler and 2 is a draft yoke connected thereto. The yoke is illustrated as being adapted to receive a tandem arrangement of springs, having for that purpose a central column or thimble 3 dividing the rear portion of the yoke into two compartments each of which is adapted to receive a single cushioning unit; but the form of yoke has been chosen merely for the purpose of illustration and without intention to limit the invention.

At its rear end or butt the coupler is provided with oppositely extending shoulders or lugs which are preferably formed as curved trunnions 4 integrally united to the shank of the coupler.

The forward end of the yoke 2 is preferably'of hooded form having a top wall 5, a bottom wall 6, and forwardly divergent side walls 7 and 8, respectively, forming a flaring socket or recess adapted to receive the shouldered rear end of the coupler 1. This socket is preferably closed at its rear end by a Wall 9 Whose forward face is curved to correspond to the rear faces of the trunnions 4, said wall being adapted to receive buffing shocks communicated to the yoke by the coupler. lhe trunnion form of the rear end of the coupler 1 and the flaring form of the outer end of the yoke 2 are preferably employed in order to allow the coupler to swing laterally or pivot on the yoke when the car is passing around a curve.

The socket of the draft yoke for receiving the coupler butt is provided with a plurality of separable shoulders 10 and 11 which are respectively adapted to engage the forward faces of the shoulders or trunnions 4 to thereby connect the coupler 1 to the yoke 2. The lower shoulder 10 may be integral with the lower wall 6 of the socket, while the upper shoulder 11 is formed by a movable locking block 12 which is preferably mounted on the yoke so as to slide vertically through an aperture 13 in the upper wall 5 of the socket. The locking block 12, which is preferably made wider at its front than at its rear when the forward end of the yoke is fashioned with a flaring socket, normally stands behind laterally spaced lugs or steps 14 formed on the outer end of the draft yoke near the upper side thereof, the locking block being thus supported against draft strains communicated to it by the upper trunnion 4:. As shown in the drawings the stop lugs 14; are spaced apart sufficiently to allow the butt of the coupler 1 to pass between them when being assembled with or disconnected from the yoke 2; and also shown in the drawings the interior height of the coupler receiving socket of the yoke is sufliciently greater than the heigl'it of the coupler butt to allow the latter to be moved vertically the distance required to disengage its lower trunnion -il from the shoulder 10 on the draft yoke with. which it coihaerates. The shoulders 10 and 11 of the yoke are preferably curved to corresponr l to the curmture of the faces of the trunnions The vertically slidable locking block 12 is provided with an elongated recess 15 which is adapted to receive and permit the operation of the angularly disposed portions 16 and 23 of a lever 17 by which the locking block may be actuated. At the end of the recess corresponding to the position normally occupied by the part 16 of the lever the upper and lower walls of said recess are preferably respectively provides with shouldered seats 18 and 19 with which the adjacent portion of the actuating lever is adapted to engage. The seat 18,.if employed, provides an added safeguard against accidental upward movement of the locking block 12, since, when the lever 17 is in normal or locked position, the initial accidental unlocking movement of the locking block causes said seat to press against the finger 16 of the lever and positively prevent the latter from performing an unlocking rotation, thus arresting the unlocking movement of the locking block. When the locking block 1 is raised it is supported in that position by the lever 17, as shown in Figs. at and 5. To more certainly prevent accidental descent of the block 12 the seat 19 may be employed, the linger 16 of the lever cooperating with said seat to prevent an accidental locking rotation of the lever which would permit the block to descend.

The operating lever 1'7 may be conveniently journaled in a perforated bearing lug 20 formed on the upper side of the yoke 2 at its forward end, the lever being provided with a journal portion 21 extending through said perforation. The forward end of the lever extends at an angle to the journal portion 21 to form a handle 22, and the portion 16 thereof which engages the locking block 12 is connected to the journal 21 in offset relation by the portion 23. The handle 22 and the portions 16 and 23 of the lever 17 are on the same side of the journal portion 21 and when in normal or locked position are located below said journa hthus always tending to assume and remain in locked position under the influence of gravity and thereby opposing accidental upward movement of the locking block.

The block 12 may be raised or lowered by turning the handle 22 of the lever in the proper direction, as will be readily understood. In the construction shown in the principal figures of the drawings the design of locking block 12 is such that the lever 17 can rotate only in one direction from its normal position. This is the preferred con struction; but in Fig. 11 is shown a locking block 12 having therein a recess 15 representing a duplication of the recess 15 heretofore described. When the locking block 12 is employed the operating lever 17 may be moved in either direction from its normal position to effect an unlocking movement of the block.

The mode of assembling the locking block 12 and lever 17 with the yoke 2 is illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10. The lever having been fully shaped except for the bend to bring the handle 22 to the desired position, the locking block 12 is partially raised and the lever inserted. After this has been done the outer end of the lever is heated and bent to form the handle 22.

In Figs. 12 and 13 is shown modified form of lever 17 a for actuating the locking block 12. The lever 17 is the same in construction and mode of operation as the lever 7 already described, except t iat, instead of fashioned in a single piece, it is proided with a detachable handle 22 having at one end an eye which receives the squared assembled from the parts of the mechanism with which it is associated, the inner portion being entered in the recess l5 in the locking block and in the perforation of the journal lug 20, and the handle 22 thereafter being applied. ii lifter lever of this character facilitates repairs to the structure by enabling a worn or damaged locking block 12 to be quickl y and easily replaced with a new one.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler, the butt thereof having oppositely extending shoulders, of a yoke, and means for connecting said coupler and yoke, said means involving a locking block adapted to engage one of the shoulders on the butt of the coupler, and a rotatable member having an angularly disposed portion for actuating said locking block.

2. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler, the butt thereof having oppositely extending shoulders, of a yoke, and means mounted on one of said members for detachably connecting said coupler and yoke, said means involving a slidable locking block adapted to engage one of the shoulders on the butt of the coupler, and a rotatal'ile lever for actuating said locking block.

8, In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler, the butt thereof having oppositely extending shoulders, of a yoke. and means for connecting said coupler and yoke, said means involving a locking block adapted to engage one of the shoulders on the butt of the coupler, said block slidably mounted on said yoke and rotatable lever journaled on said yoke and engaging said locking block and adapted to move said locking block to a position permitting said coupler and yoke to be discon .nccted.

4-. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler, the butt thereof having oppositely extending shoulders, of a yoke, and means for connecting said coupler and yoke, said means involving a locking block adapted to engage one of the shoulders on. the butt of the coupler and having a recess therein adapted to receive portion of an actuating lever, and a rotatable lever for moving said locking block to a position permitting said coupler and yoke to be disconnected, said lever constituting means for preventing said locking block from accidentally assuming a position permitting said coupler and yoke to be disconnected.

5. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler, of a yoke, and means for connectin said coupler and yoke, said means involving a slidable looking block having a recess provided with a shouldered seat, and a rotatable lever having a portion extending into said recess and adapted to move said locking block to a position permitting said coupler and yoke to be disconnected, said lever being adapted to engage said shouldered seat to thereby lock said locking block against accidental move ment.

6. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler, of a yoke, and means for connecting said coupler and yoke, said means involving a locking block provided with aplurality of shouldered seats, and a lever having a portion extending into said recess and adapted to move said locking block to a position permitting said coupler and yoke to be disconnected, said lever being adapted to engage one of said shouldered seats to thereby lock said looking block against accidental movement and being adapted to engage the other of said seats to thereby maintain the locking block in a position permitting said coupler and yoke to be disconnected.

7. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler, the butt thereof having oppositely extending shoulders, of a draft yoke, and means for detachably connecting said coupler and yoke, said means involving a slidable locking block adapted to engage one of the shoulders on the butt of the coupler, and a lever for actuating said locking block, said lever having a journal portion, an operating handle and a portion offset from said journal portion and engaging said locking block.

8. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler, the butt thereof having oppositely extending shoulders, of a draft yoke, and means for detachably connecting said yoke and coupler, said means involving a locking block slidably mounted on said yoke, said block adapted to engage one of the shoulders on the butt of the coupler, and a lever rotatably mounted on said yoke for moving said locking block to a position permitting said coupler and yoke to be disconnected, said lever being provided with a portion engaging said looking block and having its axis of rotation disposed at an angle to the direction of sliding movement of said locking block.

9. In a device of the character indicated. the combination with a coupler, the butt thereof beingprovided with oppositely extending bearing shoulders, of a yoke provided at its forward end with shoulders respectively adapted to engage the shoulders of said coupler, one of said shoulders being formed as a member movably mounted on said yoke, and a rotatable member journaled on the yoke and provided with an angularly disposed portion for actuating said movable shoulder member.

10. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler, the butt thereof being provided with bearing shoulders, of a yoke provided at its forward end with separable bearing shoulders, one of the bearing shoulders of the yoke being slidable and provided with an elongated recess for the reception of an operating lever, and a rotatable lever mounted on said yoke and having an angularly disposed portion constituting means for separating said shoulders of the yoke.

11. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler, of a yoke,

' and means mounted on one of said members said locking block to a position permitting said coupler and yoke to be disconnected, said lever having a journal portion about which it rotates, an operating handle and a portion engaging said locking block, said last named portion and said operating handle being on the same side of said journal portion.

12. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler, the butt thereof having oppositely extending shoulders, of a yoke, and means for connecting said yoke and coupler, said means involving a movable locking block adapted to engage one of the shoulders on the butt of the cou pler, and a rotatable lever for actuating said block, said lever being adapted to prevent said block from accidentally assuming a position permitting said coupler and yoke to be disconnected and being adapted to maintain said block in a position permitting said coupler and yoke to be disconnected.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HARRY G. BUHOUP. 

